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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't just a strong Game of the Year contender, it’s also an enormous commercial success. Developer Sandfall Interactive along with publisher their publishing partner disclosed that the game topped five million copies in sales, this is even with its status as a launch-day addition on Xbox Game Pass.

This achievement came as quite a shock to the developers. I firmly believed that we would have a good game garnering moderate sales results,” a key executive commented.

Another leading developer remarked this title's review aggregate, which currently sits at 93, was the most surprising moment for everyone versus what we anticipated and the actual outcome turned out to be. When the score released all staff members celebrated excitedly. It was really frantic.”

That success has led to work on a free update for the game with a new environment, foes, plus epic encounters, which they said is coming within the “upcoming month[s]”.

That said, despite the game's evolution, it's unlikely the team will expand. “We have an excellent group with a strong creative director who has a great vision for the project and also for new ideas. We'd like to keep the human scale that led to our success then develop large projects one by one,” they noted.

The studio's scale generated significant conversation upon the title's release. Some developers, like Hideo Kojima, looked at Sandfall’s team as the “ideal” for creative teams. Despite being indeed a small team compared to its AAA counterparts, checking Expedition 33’s credits indicates dozens of people participated; the French studio contracted a Korean team handling movement and effects, for example.

“We will hire a little more for sure if we have a future production surge in the coming years,” the producer stated. “But I would see more of a workshop comprising a handful exceptionally gifted creators that create a work of art together.” He noted that Sandfall’s vision as a studio “aims to keep the strengths that led to this accomplishment originally.”

Despite being not the right time to say specifically about future projects — rest assured, I tried to get them to — the team does know their fundamental principles. “Strategic combat, is integral to our identity of this project,” a developer explained. “It's still premature to announce our next interests, yet we must to stay true to our studio's essence featuring rich storytelling and the interesting gameplay that inspires the team.”

The lead programmer added that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 started with the visionary pursuing his ideal project. And hopefully that's something will be repeated with upcoming games.”